After a tumultuous weekend of skirmishes, arrests, and the towing of multiple vehicles, police have evacuated the remaining truckers and other Freedom Convoy demonstrators from Ottawa, Ontario.
While the massive police operation continued Monday, officers reclaimed control of the city’s downtown three weeks after the demonstrators arrived.
Some drivers were forcibly removed from their trucks. According to social media videos, police shattered the windows of a truck while a swarm of protesters chanted, “Shame!”
Since Friday, 191 individuals have been arrested, including Chris Barber, Tamara Lich, and Pat King. According to the CBC, Barber, a Saskatchewan trucker with a sizable TikTok following, was granted bail on the condition that he leave Ottawa.
Truckers have also been fleeing recently, with the pace picking up on Saturday as they faced arrest, insurance suspension, and freezing bank accounts. According to police, 76 automobiles have been towed. Authorities have also taken action against 36 commercial vehicle operator registrations.
In response to a FreightWaves query, Ottawa police declined to say how many truck drivers had been arrested.
“A more detailed update will be provided in the following days,” the Ottawa Police Service said in an email.
The trucker is enraged by the police crackdown, but he adds, “We also began something.”
In late January, the Freedom Convoy was founded to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers. It swiftly grew as a threat to many public health initiatives in response to the pandemic.
Erik Mueller, an Alberta owner-operator, said he abandoned the demonstration on Thursday because the carrier bonded with was at risk of losing its insurance.
“I’m exhausted. I’m quite enraged. I am dissatisfied. “However, we also started something,” he added.
After removing the individuals and cars camping downtown Ottawa began on Friday, police took an increasingly harsh approach. Protesters were accused of attacking officers by the Ottawa Police Service. Meanwhile, protesters and allies accused police of using excessive force.
In reaction to incidents over the weekend, Ontario’s police watchdog agency, the Special Investigations Unit, launched two investigations. A woman was gravely hurt by a mounted police officer in one case.
Concerns about increased police powers aimed at trucks
The police operation was launched after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act in response to protests in Ottawa and border crossing blockades. Trudeau has granted police increased authority by enacting the legislation, including freezing bank accounts and compelling tow truck operators to work.
Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, which represents private and specialized fleets, said he supported the federal government’s tough stance on protests but was concerned about how financial sanctions would be implemented.
“If it’s an owner-operator who is there [at the protests] or the firm has four trucks and all four vehicles are there, fine,” Millian told FreightWaves ahead of the police operation in Ottawa.
Millian expressed concern about tow operators being compelled to remove trucks, noting threats received by certain companies from demonstration sympathizers.
The House of Commons in Canada is still debating whether to accept Trudeau’s use of the act. A vote is scheduled for later today.
Trudeau and his administration officials have insisted that an exceptional move was required to halt the protests and blockades. Officials cited the millions of dollars in trade interrupted by the blocking of the Ambassador Bridge and other crossings, as well as the disturbance of life in Ottawa and the arrest of people connected in the border protest in Coutts, Alberta, who was suspected of plotting to kill a police officer.
“We made this decision extremely carefully and seriously,” stated Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.
Conservative members have slammed the bill as unnecessary and an attempt by Trudeau to grab power. “There are no longer any border blockades. “Invoking the Emergencies Act is a power grab by the Trudeau government,” Conservative Party leader Candice Bergen stated in a tweet.
